Heading into the second half of Super Rugby Aotearoa, the Chiefs have been searching for the sort of form that has deserted them since the end of the regular Super Rugby season.
Winless, although close enough to claim three loser's bonus points, they face the Highlanders in Hamilton on Sunday – a side who beat them courtesy of a late dropped goal in their last game.
Chiefs attack coach Roger Randle said the changed emphasis in the laws, and the demands of constant derby games had been a test.
Four consecutive games had been tough, he said, especially in the middle of winter, so the bye week had provided the chance for an enjoyable break.
Looking at their low try count, Randle said mid-winter conditions had not helped. But it wasn't only the Chiefs who had to adapt.
"We've had a couple of wet games as well and the Crusaders have got a pretty good attack, they didn't score until the 56th minute last week when someone made an error on the edge for them.
"The Highlanders scored off a lineout drive last week. I think Tony Brown goes all right as an attack coach. So we're all kind of getting together, having a beer afterwards, and defence coaches are licking their lips because it's July, she's pretty wet and there're a lot of defenders on the body at the moment.
"So that's the challenge for us attack coaches, how we harness that and [how] we can find ways of breaking that down."
What confuses the issue for the Chiefs is the fact they have enjoyed the highest average time in possession during the tournament but it is their opponents kicking that is proving the key.
"The teams that are turning over the ball the most, and not kicking as much as the other team, they're losing. So, you're not always rewarded for having possession. It's probably possession down the strike zone," he said.
Teams were leaking points through ill-discipline, penalties or tries at that end while those teams winning were achieving that as a result of kicking deep to get field position to play at the right end, he said.
"We obviously love to keep the ball in hand. And we've found, since the resumption, it's been a lot of defenders on their bodies.
"So at times, there're 13-14 players in the line, zero rucking, so having the ability to play through the ruck at times.
"The breakdown's probably not as much of that 'scorched earth' mentality. So, I don't know if big Brodie [Retallick] will be smiling watching those sort of breakdowns.
"It's just adapting to those sort of rules around the breakdown because at the moment there are a lot of defenders on [their] feet, and it's a little bit like rugby league but we've got to find ways to adapting to that."
"We've been pretty courageous in terms of how we want to play at times, and it's not necessarily the smartest thing to do, I think, at the moment with the conditions. So being a bit smarter how we play our rugby, and [in] what parts of the field, is probably going to have to be an adjustment that we've got to be better at, consistently," he said.